Chocolate Rugelach

Chocolate Rugelach Recipe

Chocolate in a Flaky Pastry Crust

The other day, I got a "chocolate roll" from a bakery in Prague.  It was a cheap snack that did not exactly hit the spot, being a very dry, slightly-burnt miniature croissant with some chocolate in the middle.  It reminded me, however, of chocolate rugelach.  Since a New York bakery is a long way a way, I figured I would make some for myself.

This recipe uses a dough adapted from Martha Stewart.


Ingredients
For the dough:
4 oz cream cheese (in the U.S.) or 125 grams (half a package) of soft tvaroh* (in the C.R.), room temp.
1/2 cup of butter, room temp.
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 cup of flour

Filling:
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of butter, melted


*Tvaroh, which I have used before, is a soft cheese found easily in the Czech Republic.  I enjoy using it in my recipes instead of cream cheese because it is cheaper and, simply, something different.  To find something similar outside of the Czech Republic, look for quark cheese at a German specialty shop.

Make the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together cheese and butter until smooth.  Add sugar and beat until incorporated.  Add flour gradually while beating on medium speed.  A crumbly dough should form.  Using lightly-floured hands, gather dough into a ball.  Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

I am terrible at rolling dough out in a circle, so I use a plate for a template.  The extra dough can be re-rolled out.

Make the cookies:
Roll out the dough on a lightly-floured surface into a circle.  (If you are like me, you cannot make a shape even remotely circular, so roll it out as circular as possible and cut the edges into a circle.  The scraps from the edge can be rolled out again to make another circle.) The dough should be a quarter of an inch thick.  In order to make thin triangles, cut the circle with a sharp knife into sixteenths.  Spread each triangle with melted butter and sprinkle with chocolate.  Roll from the wide end to the small end, as you would a croissant.  Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F (170 C).  Remove cookies from refrigerator and bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.  Allow cookies to cool and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

-Colleen

Cookie Dough Brownies

Cookie Dough Brownies

A Mix of Recipes

This recipe for cookie dough-topped brownies had been on my mind since Amy posted about it a few weeks ago.  However, when I looked at the recipe, I thought there were a few things I would change about it.  I thought the best way to start would be to go to my favorite brownie and chocolate chip cookie recipes and go from there to combine them.  

Brownie Layer:

For the brownies, I modified this Martha Stewart recipe for Double-Chocolate Brownies.  It is my go-to recipe.  For the purposes of making Cookie Dough Brownies, I cut the recipe to two-thirds, figuring I wanted a thin brownie layer.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons of butter, cubed

100 grams of semi-sweet chocolate (~ 3.5 oz), broken into pieces

1/3 cup of sugar*

2 eggs

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/4  teaspoon of salt

5 tablespoons of flour

*I usually cut the amount of sugar in any recipe in half.  I really dislike things so sweet that you cannot taste anything else.  For sweeter brownies, use up to 2/3 cup of sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).  Line a 9x11 inch pan (or something of similar size) with parchment paper so that the paper goes all the way up the sides.  Trim off excess and put aside.  

In a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate, stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.

Pour sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl, pour chocolate mixture on top and whisk until well-combined.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add salt.  Gradually whisk in cocoa.  Fold in flour until just combined.  Pour into pan, using a spatula or rubber scraper to evenly distribute.  The batter will be quite viscous and will form only a thin layer in the pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes.  Test the center with a toothpick; if it comes out with only a few crumbs, the brownies are fully cooked.  

Set aside and make cookie dough.

Cookie Dough Layer:

The obvious choice for a cookie dough recipe seemed to me the old standard: Toll House.

These cookies have an important ingredient missing from the original Cookie Dough Brownie Recipe...

SALT!  You cannot have all of that sugar without some salt to balance it out!  

Here is my recipe, cut in half to make a reasonably-sized layer, and altered to remove the eggs but not the moisture.

Baking is Messy

But Totally Worth It!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of brown sugar (or turbinado here in Europe, which is the closest I can find)

1 package of vanilla sugar (here in Europe, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of sugar)

2 tablespoons of milk

1 cup of flour

100 grams of semi-sweet chocolate (~3.5 oz), finely chopped*

*You could obviously use chocolate chips, we just do not have them here.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, salt, sugars.  If using, add vanilla extract.  Add milk and mix until combined.  Gradually add flour and mix.  Mix in chocolate.  

Combine:

Using a spatula or rubber scraper, spread cookie dough over brownies.  You may even want to warm the dough a bit to make it more pliable.  DO NOT MELT!  Once the dough is spread evenly, place in refrigerator for about an hour to set.  Remove and cut into reasonably-sized pieces--whatever that means for you!  Serve with a glass of milk, you will need it.

I hope this recipe inspires you to go out and make some delicious treats!